Present: Aiden, Eliot, Emily, Nadia, Lenna, Myles, Christine
Aiden: We have follow ups to do. First, let’s go around the table and discuss what worked and what could be improved upon for next year’s auction.
Eliot: I think it went very well. Well attended. A lot of enthusiasm from the crowd. Could have made it easier to give personal info if won an item.
Nadia: I don’t have precedence, but from what I heard from non-freshman, there were a good number of people. There were comments from staff that we made the auction a very social event, a characteristic that Auction had lost the past few years. Another concern from faculty and students was that the date (Friday) was awkward, leading to faculty and students that could not attend the auction. Dead campus, awkward late time.
Aiden: Next year we will be booking the date in about August or September. So we will have a better time instead of competing and working around other events to book Reisinger.
Lenna: I thought it was really fun. I think the performances were necessary for the audience and the SSSF team to refresh/regroup. The auctioneers did a good job.
Myles: The people I talked to had a lot of fun. Suggestions: maybe it’ll be cool to do a band (instrumental piece)/ the school’s jazz band.
Emily: Feedback from other people: length. Fewer breaks. Fewer performances. (maybe 1 instead of 2 per group?)
Hayleigh: People I talked to liked that the focus of the auction has been brought back to the students. Move up the silent auction time and move the live auction earlier. Trivia and theme were good.
Christine: I heard great comments about auction this year. Staff members who were hesitant have nothing but compliments about this year’s auction. Silent auction earlier (at 11am) and live auction at like 5pm or 6pm. Suggestions: Planning silent auction layout better with organization of set up and bid sheets. It is spectacular that all the items in live auction sold. That is not common.
Lily: Students got really involved. We can make it even more interactive- auction and include other things such as after auction dance. Get more volunteers next year out of SSSF from the general student body.
Aiden: I think it was phenomenally successful. I think it is really cool that we were able to have such a successful event after only spending about $40. I think we built a good foundation for more SSSF involvement on campus in the future.
Pricing on the Programs
Discussion as to whether or not starting bids should be left off programs. Why should it be left off?
-Not done in real auctions.
-Devalues the items.
What could be done next year:
Programs: Categories, pictures of items
Notebooks at silent auction with pictures of what is on live auction
Silent to Live
Discussion as to whether or not silent to live items are necessary. Should things just stay in one category or another? General sentiments are that in the future things should just stay either silent or live. No silent to live items.
Idea for future: Intermission at live auction and put out the silent items that did not sell.
Thank you Notes
Discussion about thank you notes to be sent out to donators and people who have helped out.
Nadia will pick up 120 thank you cards.
(Dept + individuals, Opera class, Restaurants, Performance groups)
Online Component
Due to the economic situation and to focus on making the auction about the students, we did not do the usual online component this year.
Discussion about online component. Should alumni and parent involvement be brought back?